Psychiatric Facility To Open

Portneuf Valley Rehab and Residential Care is transforming its Pocatello operations to a partially psychiatric hospital following the closure of another local facility.

Portneuf will immediately close its 18-bed residential care center to make renovations to open a 12-bed geriatric psychiatric hospital about April 1.

Portneuf is a 94-bed geriatric therapy and skilled nursing center.

Edith Roe, vice president of Northwest Bec-Corp, which owns Portneuf, indicated the decision to open the geriatric-psychiatric hospital was a direct result of Aspen Crest Hospital’s closure in December.

There is a substantial need for that combination in the seven-county area, she said. The center will be called the Portneuf Valley Hospital.